Lawrence Dallaglio: ‘Coaches are not on the same page'

England’s brutal baptism of fire will be worth it if they learn the harsh lessons

I know how the England players were feeling when they sat down in their changing room after yesterday's game. The desolation, the hurt, the horrible pain, the hopelessness that comes with the feeling that you weren't that bad and yet you've been smashed. You barely look up, you don't really want to talk about and you wish the shower water could wash it all way.

I know because I've been there and it's not much fun. You might say, 'Ah, Dallaglio, Johnson, they were winners'. You've forgotten all the games we lost. In 1997, in one of our first games under Clive Woodward, we also had a record defeat against New Zealand, so don't hammer these guys. They didn't set out to lose heavily to South Africa and New Zealand.

Sure, it's fair to say they played badly against the Springboks, unacceptably badly in some respects, but they redeemed themselves